Virginia Grassroots Coalition News 7/4/05

[Catchawave]

Quote of the Week

It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. -- Thomas Jefferson



Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. - Martin Luther King, Jr.


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Rant of the Day

It is easier to talk of action than to take it. Courage requires that one have the fortitude to choose the latter. Action is the key to change. It's also the key to effective leadership. Think about ways you can step up your level of action. Two hours of individual action a week, undertaken throughout a community makes a world of difference.



On Wingnuts and Wacktivists. What are they? They are the 10% of us on either end of the political spectrum who are incapable of listening to other views than their own. I'm not talking about BELIEVING other views. I'm talking about those folk who won't even listen. Listening is a key skill that helps each of us understand the social context in which we live. Understanding is the first step in formulating a message that will reach outside the current community of the converted. So, look around you and help the progressive cause by helping reform your local Wingnuts.


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Virginia Grassroots Coalition Events. VGC events are FREE.

Tuesday, July 12th, 6:30-9pm, Virginia Grassroots Coalition gathering at Capitol City Brewing, 2700 S. Quincy Street, in Arlington. Well be showing a short preview of Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices http://www.walmartmovie.com/ and .??? The discussion for the evening will center on both wage and development issues.


Sunday July 31st, 3:00pm WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception. The VGC Media group hosts a screening at the George Mason Regional Library, 7001 Little River Turnpike in Annandale, VA. "Weapons of Mass Deception" reveals: How the Iraq war was sold to the American public through professional P.R. strategies. Contact [e-mail] for more.


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VGC Action Alerts

The Supreme Court

PFAW - https://www.kintera.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?kntaw9310=EDD3B742936D47618584905283A04AE0&c=mwK0JbNTJrF&b=849131&action=2823&template=x.ascx

NARAL - http://prochoiceaction.org/campaign/scotus_nonominee?rk=Zp_F2Z71WaV4W

The Downing Street Memo http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/526

Social Security Activist Guide. http://www.movingideas.org/content/en/ssaguide.htm

STOP Truck Lanes on I-81. Call John Warner and tell him "NO" Read about in the Weekly Reader below. http://warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.htm OR 202-224-2023

IRAQ, still. http://www.ncccusa.org/news/SpeakOutDraft.html

Rapid Response. http://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?c=feIJKQMEF&b=570163

Oldie but Goodie. http://www.aclu.org/


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VGC GLBTS


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VGC Labor [e-mail]

Summer School. http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/extension/wkplace/

Getting to know Walmart. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

A Walmart Economy? http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/walmart.html


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VGC Media [e-mail]

Democratic Media: A Do-it-Yourself Starter Kit. http://www.prwatch.org/node/3782


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VGC Education [e-mail]


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VGC Reproductive Rights [e-mail]

It's Up to Women -- http://women.smartcampaigns.com/



NARAL Pro-Choice America is organizing an intern brown bag lunch series. It is being co-sponsored by several progressive organizations. The goal of the series is to provide information about the work being done by local organizations and offer an opportunity for interns to network with each other. The kick off is Thursday, July 7th at 12 pm. The lunches will be held every Thursday at 12 pm July 7th-August 18th.

Time: 12-1 pm every Thursday

Where: Each brown bag will be held at the office of the sponsoring organization.

Dates:

Thursday, July 7th: NARAL Pro-Choice America

Thursday, July 14th: Human Rights Campaign

Thursday, July 21st: National Conference of Jewish Women

Thursday, July 28th: People for the American Way

Thursday, August 4th: American Association of University Women

Thursday, August 11th: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

Thursday, August 18th: Wake Up Wal-Mart


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VGC Environmental. [e-mail]

July 6-8, A Demonstration to Tell the President and G-8 to stop global warming & end our oil dependence. At the White House, Washington DC. Bicyclists will ride around the White House for the duration of

the G-8 Summit in Scotland to demand action on Global Warming. Our marathon cyclists applaud the forward thinking support of wind, solar and other renewable resources by the Senate. WE call on the President to do the same starting in Scotland. We will be cycling around the White House 24 hours a day to send this message to the G8 summit: We Want Clean Energy! The American people support the Kyoto Protocols. Contact: Mason Payne [e-mail]


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VGC Faith Outreach [e-mail]

Economic Justice at Work. http://www.dclabor.org/index.php?display=Surveys

Leftward Christian Soldiers. http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=9905


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Outreach and Events Around The Region

These listings are designed to keep you aware of opportunities to work in the community, provide feedback to policy makers, meet future leaders, and get involved in the community. Most events are free and all are open to the public. To submit an event for consideration, email [e-mail]

July 6-8, A Demonstration to Tell the President and G-8 to stop global warming & end our oil dependence. At the White House, Washington DC. Bicyclists will ride around the White House for the duration of

the G-8 Summit in Scotland to demand action on Global Warming. Our marathon cyclists applaud the forward thinking support of wind, solar and other renewable resources by the Senate. WE call on the President to do the same starting in Scotland. We will be cycling around the White House 24 hours a day to send this message to the G8 summit: We Want Clean Energy! The American people support the Kyoto Protocols. Contact: Mason Payne [e-mail]



July 9th & 10th, 8:30am - 6 pm. Democracy for America training at George Marshall High School, Route 7, Falls Church. National trainers teaching everything you need to know to work a campaign, whether for issue advocacy, an election campaign, or to be a successful candidate. Questions to Sarah John, 703-560-4330 http://petition.democracyforamerica.com/page/event/trainings/zfz



Sunday, July 10, 5:45 - 8 PM - July meeting of Sunday Supper Club at 7180 Baldwin Ridge Road, Warrenton, VA. As part of the meeting we will view "HIJACKING CATASTROPHE: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire" which examines how a radical fringe of the Republican Party used the trauma of the 9/11 terror attacks to advance a pre-existing agenda to radically transform American foreign policy while rolling back civil liberties and social programs at home. For information, call 540-349-7862 or email [e-mail]



Sunday July 10. Political Action Book Club Pot Luck at 6. 7326 Tower St, Falls Church VA 22046 The discussion starts at 7 with our sharing our actions. At a recent meeting folks decided they wanted to return to Jim Wallis' book God's Politics. We will focus on Part IV which is "Spiritual Values and Economic Justice, When did Jesus become pro-rich?", chapters 13 through 17. We need to raise alternatives that are attractive and viable so put your thinking caps on for this one. In light of this, there are some questions on Jim Wallis' web site (which I have pasted below) that will further stimulate our thinking. Please bring the guidelines with you, along with your thoughts regarding them on:http://www.sojo.net/special/items/GP_studyguide.pdf Contact Judith at [e-mail]



Wednesday, July 13th, Campus Progress National Student Conference at the Convention Center in Washington, DC. http://www.campusprogress.org/common/247/campus-progress---national-student-conference



Sunday, July 24, 7 PM. Seminar on the politicization of US intelligence by Ray McGovern, a 27 year former analyst for the CIA. Ray McGovern recently testified before Congressman John Conyers public hearings on the implications of the Downing Street Memo. He is a nationally known speaker and is author of a forthcoming book on how the integrity of the US intelligence community has been undermined by political influence. The title of one of the chapters illustrates the process. Sham Dunk; Cooking Intelligence for the President. To be held at Masonic Temple, 411 Little Falls Street, Falls Church, VA. Tel. [phone]



Friday, July 29th thru Sunday, July 31st , 2005 ACS National Convention: The Constitution in the 21st Century. www.acslaw.org



August 13th, Rally for Prison Reform in DC. http://www.journeyforjustice.org/



August 12th-14th Dismantling Racism Workshop Virginia Organizing Project will sponsor a weekend Dismantling Racism workshop August 12-14, 2005 at the Richmond Hill Retreat Center, 2209 East Grace Street, in Richmond. The session begins at 4:00 p.m. Friday, August 12 and ends at noon Sunday, August 14. Contact Laura Ramirez at 434.984.4655 or [e-mail]



Sept. 24th--26th End the War on Iraq. Massive Mobilization in Washington, D.C. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2854



October 21-23, 2005 Virginia Forest Watch Seventh Annual Membership Meeting & National Forest Protection Alliance Seventh Annual National Convention in the forest near Harrisonburg, Va. To invigorate the statewide and national effort to protect and restore national forests, this year's convention will focus on how organizations can protect their forests through the marketplace and ecologically-based restoration. Contact [e-mail] 434-293-7401 or [e-mail] 276-479-2176


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Weekly Reader

Don't Register for Web Sites. http://www.bugmenot.com/

Acquire the Tools. http://www.alternet.org/story/23240/

Where Belief is Born. http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1517186,00.html

Free Speech Under Fire. http://insidehighered.com/views/2005/06/24/wilson

Saved from Complexity. http://www.alternet.org/story/23183/

The Death of PBS. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/22/1347234

Back on Their Heels? http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/6/27/125537/131#comment_top

Burying the Truth. http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/2004_vote_fraud.html

Americans for Legal Immigration. http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-4229-0.html

McCain-Kennedy. http://www.galeo.org/051405WashingtonPostMcCainKennedy.htm

More Mad Cows. http://www.prwatch.org/node/3793

K Street. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062600905.html AND http://www.kstreetproject.com/index.php?content=about

Follow the Money. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/21/AR2005062101632.html

She sucked at international propaganda. Maybe she'll be better domestically. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062302074.html

Latino Power. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/25/AR2005062500082.html

In Search of Pro-Americanism. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3080&src2=PJA05

Irrational fear and risk analysis. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cpu/cpr/issues/4/3/cricket_bats.html

Tales of Karl Rove and Lee Atwater?? http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000972839

News from Orion. http://www.oriononline.org/pages/oo/sidebars/Used_News/index_news.html

The Trucking Lobby in VA? Read on.. http://www.tollroadsnews.com/cgi-bin/a.cgi/QaXR8l8MEdiRW6r2jfFwDw AND http://www.taxpayer.net/road2ruin/roads/i-81.htm AND http://www.shenandoahvalleynetwork.org/i81/81factsheet2.html

The death of personal property or how I lost my home to developers. http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1525


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Fun Stuff

OK, not so funny. http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/patoliphant

This Modern World. http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=19271


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[oxbow]

1. Wow. lots of good stuff

Ill certainly try and make it to the environmental rally, among other things.